Map, Compass & GPS

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

A desperate message written in sand has saved the life of a British tourist who vanished in the Australian outback after he made 'the stupidest decision of his life'.

Geoff Keys, 63, was stranded for two days in the Jardine National Park in far north Queensland, when the self-described explorer got himself lost when trying to reach an isolated part of the park.

Mr. Keys was barefoot, alone, without food and fearing for his life as he tried to retrace his steps and return to safety. However, the Briton wound up more than 12 kilometers from his camp and, in a moment of madness, tried to swim to the Eliot Falls.

The desperate message left by Geoff Keys, the British tourist who survived two days lost in the Australian outback

In an act of desperation, the 63-year-old from Kent, scratched an SOS message into the sand - hoping someone would spot it.

The carving read 'HELP 2807' and had an arrow pointing downstream to where Mr. Keys was resting.

'It seemed a good idea to help myself as much as possible so I got out of the water, found a stick and wrote a message in the sand, just in case the helicopter came down that way,' Mr Keys said.

'HELP. 2807. –>. Help, today’s date and my direction of travel. I thought this would be enough to get any helicopter that saw it looking in the right place.'

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Diane Spicer has written a fine post at SeattleBackpackers Magazine about key things the hikers should do about foot care. It's a quick read.

"Every mode of transportation requires regularly scheduled maintenance. Why should a hiker’s feet be any different?

Let’s take a quick peek at the moving parts inside your hiking boots.

Soft tissues (muscles, ligaments, tendons) work together with bony tissues to create a flexible mobile weight bearing structure. Add lots of wrapping and binding materials (fascia and other connective tissues), plus miles of blood vessels and nerves. Cover it with waterproof stretchy skin. Throw in a few protective toenails, and you’ve got the biological device that carries you over hill and dale.

Trying to make sense of last week’s fatal Grizzly bear attack on a hiker in Yellowstone National Park and its aftermath is a fool’s errand. But this fool is going to try anyway.

This kind of story wrenches its way deep into the psyche of all who spend time in the wilds. And it certainly wrenched its way deep into my soul since I spend months each year in Yellowstone and the surrounding Grizzly Country.

Friday, August 14, 2015

The thicker brown lines with
numbers are index contour lines and identify the elevation above sea level
anywhere along that line.For example,
the index contour labeled 550 is 550 feet above sea level anywhere along that specific
line.The thinner lines are intermediate
contour lines and very by the contour interval published in the map index on
the map.Contour lines close together
(bottom right) are steep changes in elevation while lines spaced far apart
(top left) represent fairly flat areas.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Orienting a map is a
starting point to identify where I am, where I want to go and where I have
been.

I orient my
topographic map (topo) before I leave the trail head and at regular intervals
during a hike.

It is a process where I involve both map and compass.Of course, orienting a map can be done
without a compass and done visually.I
find using a compass takes just a tad more time and the more hands on time with
the compass the better.

Correctly orienting my map allows me to get “dialed in” to my
surroundings.It is a process where I
align the map, compass and GPS to the terrain before me.

This orientation procedure is a great opportunity to
involve young people in backcountry navigation.Give them a quick review of topo basics and your plan before starting
out.

A topo is your key to the backcountry.It unlocks the critical information regarding
sources of water, woodlands, trails, roads, grid information and
elevation.I use a US Geologic Survey
(USGS) map at the scale of the map should be 1:24,000.(National Geographic has superb topos of the
National Parks and you may find quality maps of this scale of the area you will
travel in.)Quality outdoor, printing
and mapping stores will have such a map available.While you get comfortable with a hard copy paper
map, experiment with map software (www.mytopo.com) or internet sites that offer
free maps (www.mappingsupport.com.) Aerial imagery such as Google Earth (www.google.com/earth/index.html)
compliments the topo.

A great reference for navigating a topo is the book “Staying
Found” by June Fleming.It’s available
at many bookstores and is likely at the local library.

Moving on to the compass, I recommend
backcountry travelers use a declination adjustable compass such as the Brunton
8010G, Silva Ranger or a Suunto M2. Declination is the angular difference
between true north and magnetic north. A declination adjustable compass keeps things
simple. For example, a compass adjusted
to degrees true will match the same orientation as the map; all in degrees
true.

Declination data can be found in the diagram
at the bottom of the USGS topo, (on some commercially produced maps you really
have to look for this information.)I
recommend that map declination information be verified at www.magnetic-declination.com. This is essential in the Pacific Northwest
where maps are notoriously out of date in terms of road, city and some trail data.

Using the manufacturer’s instructions, I
adjust the compass for declination.If
your declination is east, observe the orienting arrow (on a Brunton 8010G)
rotate in a clockwise direction (see picture below.)If declination is westerly adjust counter
clockwise.

To correctly orient my
topo, I lay the baseplate (edge of the compass) on the border of the topo;
below.Use the map’s eastern or western
border.I then turn my body (while
holding the map and compass) until the map points to true north; the red
magnetic needle will be on top of the orienting arrow.(Remember, maps are laid out in degrees
true.) Now both the topo and compass will be oriented to true north.

At this point, I evaluate the topographic features of the
map and compare it to the terrain in front of me.Identification of features such as buttes,
mountains, waterways and the relationship between feature and map are very
important.I make a point to visually
reconcile what I see with the map.

I do it two ways.

First, correlate from topo map to the terrain.Using the Cascade Mountain range as an
example, from the trail head I should see the South Sister summit to the
northwest.Second, correlate from
terrain to the map.An example would be
to observe Broken Top to the north east and then determine if that observation
matches the map.

If this relationship cannot be made then I delay forward
movement.I want to be as dialed in as the
compass.This can be difficult in bad
weather with limited visibility.In such
a situation I’ll check my GPS, verify and plot my position on the map.I may resort to dead reckoning as I proceed.To be certain, I plot my position more
frequently. Further, I’ll identify large
terrain features that will become my “backcountry handrails.” (Handrails can include roads, railroad beds,
ridgelines, power transmission lines and streams.) If possible, I’ll talk to others on the trail
to learn of their observations and recent experience.

I always try to preload map software loaded into my GPS
receiver. I can compare this information with that of my map.First, I’ll set-up my receiver to report
compass information in degrees true; matching my topo and compass.Now I compare my GPS to my map and terrain.

Now that you have oriented your map, compass and GPS you
have completed an important first step in land navigation and are ready to head
out.

About Me

Avid outdoorsman in all seasons. Always learning to improve my knowledge-base and to pass on lessons learned. Search and Rescue volunteer, amateur ham radio operator, retired Naval officer. I focus on keeping my family and students safe and prepared to spend an unexpected night out. Founded Outdoor Quest in 1998. I teach land navigation (both compass/map and GPS applications), and wilderness survival.